I write about food additives and other problems related to edibles almost every day but I had a surprise experience yesterday. I was having lunch with some of my writer friends at a fine Greek restaurant. Since I’ve known for years that I can’t eat shrimp because I am allergic to it, I never eat it. I also avoid salt at all costs for a variety of medical reasons.

The waiter was very nice and I asked him for a dish that had no salt. He said the only one in the restaurant was Kalamari (also spelled Calamari). That’s the name of squid.

After lunch, my belly began to swell. I thought was just indigestion but when I began to look pregnant—and I am way past the possibility—my son said I think you are having an allergic attack. I found it hard to believe but when I began to wheeze and cough, I took the appropriate allergy medicine my doctor had previously prescribed. I was very uncomfortable but I survived.

Food allergies are now the leading cause of sensitivity reactions treated in emergency departments in the US, according to the American Academy of Asthma and Allergy. The organization estimates there are 29,000 anaphylactic reactions–a severe and sometimes fatal allergic reaction to a foreign substance, especially a protein, in foods. Nearly 200 deaths due to food allergies are reported each year.

Seafood allergy is one of the most common causes of food allergy. Seafood can be a powerful allergen for those sensitive to certain sea life. Seafood allergies are life-long.– including scaly fish and a type of shellfish:,“Mollusks, Abalone, oysters, mussels, and squid (Calamari). There are many types of squid, and they occupy a huge range of size from one inch to 80 feet long. In English-speaking countries, squid is called calamari because it is believed that the word “squid” sounds unappetizing. Another type of shellfish, “Crustaceans,” encompasses lobsters, crayfish, prawns, crabs and shrimp. I didn’t think that squid had a shell like lobsters or crabs.

The squid I ate did not have salt nor sauce. It was just on a bed of greens. Though looking innocent, it did cause quite a reaction in my body. By researching it, I learned Calamari is one of the most common causes of seafood allergic reactions so I thought I would tell you what I didn’t know, just in case you may be the allergic type. The dish was delicious, I admit, and the service great at the restaurant. I had fun with my writer companions discussing the chaos in the publishing industry. The price I paid for eating the dish, however, was more than the cost on the bill. For further information about seafood allergies, check with: The Asthma and Allergy Foundation:1-800-7-ASTHMA . Email is: info@aafa.org .

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Fishing scenes are rarely represented in ancient Greek culture, a reflection of the low social status of fishing. However, Oppian of Corycus , a Greek author wrote a major treatise on sea fishing, the Halieulica or Halieutika, composed between 177 and 180. This is the earliest such work to have survived to the modern day. The consumption of fish varied in accordance with the wealth and location of the household. In the Greek islands and on the coast, fresh fish and seafood ( squid , octopus , and shellfish ) were common. They were eaten locally but more often transported inland. Sardines and anchovies were regular fare for the citizens of Athens. They were sometimes sold fresh, but more frequently salted. A stele of the late 3rd century BCE from the small Boeotian city of Akraiphia, on Lake Copais , provides us with a list of fish prices. The cheapest was skaren (probably parrotfish ) whereas Atlantic bluefin tuna was three times as expensive.

is particularly interesting for those people who suffer with food allergies and food intolerance’s. But first it is worth noting the difference between food allergies and food intolerance’s. Food intolerances are something that we never grow out of, since it relates to an intolerance we have for certain foods, and linked to our blood type. Intolerances build up over time and as we get older they become more obvious. On the other hand a food allergy will be painfully obvious, in that you may have an immediate reaction – it may cause you to vomit, have diarrhoea, come out in a rash, or become bloated and uncomfortable.

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“If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.” - Thomas Jefferson, 3rd American President